Meenakshi

travel wonder in India

Why the

Meenakshi Gopurams

are special

The Meenakshi Hindu Temple in Madurai, India is renowned for its skyscraping gopurams (photo shows one of them).

These structures were erected in the 13th to 16th Centuries. They reach as high as 50 meters (165 feet) and are abundantly decorated from base to roof with flamboyantly colored god and animal sculptures of fanciful design.

Behind

the gopurams

The four main gopurams serve as entrance gates to the walled Meenakshi Temple, which is as large as a dozen football fields.

This immense Dravidian-style temple contains the enormous Hall of a Thousand Pillars (actually "only" 985, but they're all wonderfully sculptured).

Meenakshi Temple also houses a myriad of fascinating small temples and corridors that are fun to discover on your own. Surprises await your every turn.

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Wonders of the World

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©2008 HQP / Hillman Quality Publications